“Janis Joplin offered me a slug off her beer,” Peter Tork says. “And along comes this guy who plays the guitar left-handed.”
Tork didn’t perform the Monterey Pop Festival he references, but it did help him and bandmate Micky Dolenz discover the opening act for their band’s upcoming tour.
When The Jimi Hendrix Experience opened for The Monkees in 1967, it was their U.S. concert tour debut. But Hendrix and his crew amicably parted ways a week into it. Seems playing guitar with his teeth wouldn’t be enough to grab the attention of thousands of girls screaming “We want The Monkees!”
The Monkees started out as a 1965 television series centering on an unsuccessful imaginary rock group aiming to be The Beatles. By the time the series had been canceled in 1968, the show’s stars Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Tork and Davy Jones had evolved into a bonafide rock band. Their chops as musicians and songwriters would continue to get better as their fan base exploded – in 1967, The Monkees sold more records than The Beatles and the Rolling Stones combined.
Along with the 75 million-plus records sold worldwide and a slew of hits, including “I’m a Believer,” “Pleasant Valley Sunday” and “Daydream Believer,” criticism has always followed closely, deeming the quartet a Hollywood fabrication. There’s even a belief that Rolling Stone’s Jann Wenner blackballed The Monkees from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
But as the band continues their 50th anniversary tour, performing for millions of fans, the politics are irrelevant.
“We would do these shows for free,” Tork says. “You pay us to commute – hitting the stage for two hours is the glory time. That’s what we live for.”
In sync with the tour, The Monkees released Good Times under the leadership of Grammy Award-winning producer/musician/composer Adam Schlesinger. Loaded with special guest songwriters, from old friends Harry Nilsson and Carole King to new friends – Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo among them – Tork describes the record as “a timewarp without being derivative.” There’s also a posthumous contribution from Davy Jones.
Regarding Friday’s show at the Golden State Theatre, Tork says Carmel Valley resident and original Monkee Michael Nesmith has a standing invitation, though he’s not partaking in the current tour.
“It may change the set, but we’re always happy to have him,” Tork says.
THE MONKEES 50TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR 8pm Friday, Aug. 5 , Golden State Theatre, 417 Alvarado St., Monterey. $53-$97 (VIP $150, $385). www.goldenstatetheatre.com